Towel
by FaiKazahaya
Summary: Everything is on the line. Friendship, and anything that hinted at more. All because of one stupid dare. Solangelo (Will/Nico)


**Thank hoOPJO for the idea for this fic. It belongs to them or whoever they found it from. I hope you'll all enjoy, though, 'cause I wrote this on my birthday and everything! My second one-shot! (first: Donuts & Friends)**

**~ΨΩΨ~**

"Truth or Dare?"

Will already knew he was going to regret this, but… "Dare."

He and his friends were in the middle of pretending to actually do what they were supposed to be doing while actually playing their impromptu games with each other. Their gym teacher, Chiron, had the strangest affection for fighting, and so half of the students were sparring against one another with wooden swords while the other half was (supposedly) practicing their hand-to-hand combat skills for the upcoming test the following week.

While Will would usually play these sorts of games with Cecil and Lou Ellen, he was hopelessly out of luck during this period. His two best friends had Visual Arts together, while he was stuck here all by his lonesome.

So, instead, he was practically forced into the current game by his friend's friends, while said friend was currently sparring with Reyna with their swords. Nico was blissfully unaware of the torture his friends were putting Will through right that very moment.

Leo's smirk turned up a few notches. After all, all Will had done on previous turns was "truth", which wasn't very fun unless they managed to get him flustered about his crush on their Nico. "I dare you to…" he pretended to think for a few moments, before he couldn't take it any longer and his smirk became mischievous. "Go into Nico's stall after practice and steal his towel."

Will's eyes blew wide. "_What_?" he squeaked, throwing a glance over his shoulder as though to ensure Nico hadn't somehow overheard.

Jason and Percy looked at Leo with equal looks of surprise. They suddenly burst out laughing, forgetting all about pretending to train to clutch at their stomachs.

"Oh, man!" Percy coughed, holding up a hand to fist bump Leo with. "Dude—_brilliant_!"

"_What_?" Jason was chuckling while feigning anger, which ruined the act. "We can't do that to poor Nico! What would his _future_ _boyfriend_ think?"

Will was blushing while furiously rubbing his cheeks, trying to contain himself. He _refused_ to be affected by this. "Dude, _please_," he practically begged Leo. "Anything else. _Anything_."

Leo's smirk grew into a full-out devil's grin. "Noooo way~! I like this dare."

As though Chiron had listened in on everything and agreed with Leo, he blew his whistle and called out. "End of practice! Go wash off before class ends!"

Leo and the other two grinned at Will and jabbed him pointedly in the side. _"Go on, then!"_

Grumbling about stupid friends, Will stalked off for the showers.

He just knew this was going to end badly.

**~ΨΩΨ~**

Nico was surprised when he saw not one, but all three of his friends sitting near his usual showering stall, grinning up at him.

The black-haired boy shifted from foot to foot, frowning at them. "Is there something you want?" he wondered, fingering the towel around his waist. He had already deposited his sweaty gym clothes, and was anxious to wash off.

Leo's grin spoke of a secret they weren't telling. "Just wanted to check up on our dear Nico, of course! Something wrong with that?"

Suspicious, Nico shook his head slowly. "I _suppose_ not."

Percy smiled, cheeks pink. "How was practice?"

"It was fine," Nico said, smiling back softly. He and Percy were good friends after the younger's confession two years back, and Nico was happy to see Percy so relaxed around him after such a long time of awkward glances. "How was yours?"

Jason rolled his eyes and bumped Percy on the shoulder. "Boring, as always. Hate hand-to-hand combat."

Nico rolled his eyes, stepping into the stall. "I feel you," he threw over his shoulder, shutting the stall and throwing his towel over the stall door. It was easier to get to from there.

There was some hissing from the threesome on the other end of the door, but Nico heeded the idiots no mind. He turned on the water, and closed his eyes against the icy bite. The cold felt quite nice against his skin, and he intended to make the most of his two minutes as he could.

It was when his friends burst out laughing that Nico's eyes snapped open. Irritated, he turned off the water and spun around to grab his towel and chew them out for—

"WHERE'S MY TOWEL?!" Nico roared, slamming his fist against the locked door. There was _no way_ he was going out of the stall without it—lateness be damned!

His friends were cracking up on the other side, fueling his rage.

"GIVE IT BACK, DAMMIT!" he shouted.

"Yeah, Will! Give it back!" Leo cackled. "No, you know what—don't! Make him come out for it!"

The name made Nico falter. _Will_?

The stammering voice of his crush filtered through the door. "L-Leo! You only dared for me to _take_ it! Not hold it ransom!"

"Hold it ransom? Great idea! Make him give you something for it!" Jason called.

Percy laughed nervously at that. "You mean…make him come out _here_? Without his towel?"

Percy made a sharp sound of pain as though someone had jabbed him. "Of course, Seaweed Brain!" Leo snapped, mocking him by using his girlfriend's usual nickname. "Why else would we be doing this?"

"U-Um…" Percy seemed to lack an answer.

"Oh, I know!" Jason said, sounding pleased with himself. "Get him to give you a kiss, Willie!"

Will sputtered incoherently, and Nico could just imagine the blonde's face turning as red as his own was at that moment. "Wh-What?! I can't do that to him!"

"Why not?" Leo challenged. "You both like each other, don't you?"

_We do?_ Nico thought.

Without a word, Will threw the towel over the door, where Nico could grab it and wrap it around himself. The black haired boy stormed out of the stall and rounded on his three friends. Will flinched as though he had thought Nico were going after _him_ instead.

"Why is it _any of_ _your business_ how you think we feel about each other?!" Nico snarled at the threesome, who all scrambled away from him in a fit of fear. Even dripping wet and clad in only a towel, Nico di Angelo was still terrifying. His scowl alone had Will cringing in his corner, and it wasn't even directed at him.

With a sharp humorless laugh, Nico shook his head like a dog and sprayed his soon-to-be-dead-friends with chilly water. "_Why. Is. It. Any. Of. Your_. _Business_?"

Percy gulped audibly, and waved his hands in an attempt to show his innocence. "P-Please, Neeks! W-We were only messing around! I swear!"

Nico glared at the older boy, hands on hips. "Oh?" he turned his gaze to Jason, voice dripping with venom. "Then what was this talk about getting Will to '_kiss'_ me?"

Jason paled, stammering even worse than Percy had been. Nico couldn't understand a word the blonde was saying, but he could tell that Jason was also begging for mercy.

"And _you_!" Nico snapped, rounding on Leo. The elfish boy had been trying to sneak off while the attention was elsewhere, and froze at getting caught. "Who do you think you are, making Will do this! And don't ask me how I know, hot-head—I know you! And this is _just _the thing you'd pull!"

Leo feigned an innocent expression, looking hurt. "I don't know what you're—"

"You have a tattoo."

Nico flinched, looking over his shoulder at Will, who was watching a point on the smaller boy's back with an unreadable expression. With a flush, Nico turned his back away from Will and covered the spot with his hand. He looked down at the floor sheepishly.

Percy blinked. "When'd you get a tattoo?"

Jason, being the caring and overprotective boy that he is, tried to pry Nico's hand from his back. Nico leapt away from them and hurried off to his locker, where his clothes were, without a backwards glance. His friends, minus Will, were right on his heels. Said blonde was hanging back, eyes following the black haired boy with that same expression on his face. Was he angry?

Even worse, did he know what it _said_?

Oh, merciful God above. Don't let him know what it said.

Nico snatched his clean clothes and locked himself in a bathroom stall, yanking them on with his friends complaining in the background. They wanted to see the tattoo also, they said.

Like Nico was going to show them that in the next _millennia_. They were better off not bothering him about it. It truly was nothing.

If by nothing he meant his feelings towards a certain blonde who stole his towel, that is.

Nico's cheeks were stubbornly refusing to stop being pink even after a full minute of just standing in the stall calming down. So it wasn't until the bell rang for class to end and his friends reluctantly filed off that he exited the stall. And walked right into the waiting Will Solace.

Nico swallowed a yelp and jumped back. "Wh-What are you—?"

Will's head was tilted; face a mix between disappointment and shame. "I'm…sorry, about what happened?" His voice made his apology sound like a question.

Nico blinked. "I know," he said. He rolled his eyes. "You aren't the type of guy to be stealing other's towels just for kicks, you know. I figured when they said it was you that took it that Leo got you into it one way or the other."

"Yeah…" Will scratched the back of his head as they walked out together to their next class. His eyes looked anywhere but Nico. "We were playing Truth or Dare."

Nico's eyebrows rose. "And you chose Dare when it was _Leo's_ turn?"

Will fidgeted. "Sorry?"

Nico huffed in amusement. "You'll know better next time."

The blonde blinked at Nico, and tilted his head again as though he were some sort of puppy. "Um…"

Nico glanced at Will, and sensed the question that he was meaning to ask. "What is it?" he asked, wanting Will to say it straight out. Then maybe—just maybe—he would answer truthfully.

Will's eyes flickered over and met the smaller boy's, and held them for a moment before dropping back to the floor. "What…did it say?"

"What did what say?"

Will's nose wrinkled when he noticed how stubborn Nico was being. "The tattoo. What did it say?"

They arrived at Nico's classroom, and stopped just a ways from the door so they could finish their conversation. The late bell wasn't for another couple of minutes anyway.

Nico closed his eyes for a moment. "Why do you want to know?"

"It's in Italian."

"Yes," Nico said. "_I'm_ Italian. And?"

"I'm curious?"

The black haired boy's eyebrows furrowed. "You're not…upset?"

"What?" Will blinked. "Why?"

"I have a tattoo."

"Oh." Will rolled his eyes. "Well, I _am_ a bit upset about that. But I'm sure you had your reasons for getting it. Just… You'll tell me why you got it one day, right?"

Nico's shoulders relaxed, and a breath he didn't know he was holding slipped through his lips. "Yeah," he said, relieved. "I'll tell you."

Will smiled. "Then it says…?"

"_Sei il mia luce del sole_."

"And what does that mean?"

The warning bell tolled. Nico jolted for a second before looking at Will and gently nudging him backwards. "It means to get to class before you're late. Now go! I won't have you ruining your perfect attendance record over a silly tattoo."

Will pouted. "You'll tell me later?"

Nico rolled his eyes. It wasn't just _him_ who was stubborn. "Promise."

Will flashed his trademark grin, momentarily blinding Nico before leaving, hurrying to class before the last bell could make him late for class.

Nico gave a small smile at his crush's retreating back, his hand touching the fabric just below the waistband of his jeans.

"_Sei il mia luce del sole_," he repeated, voice soft. "You are my sunshine."

**~ΨΩΨ~**

**For the sake of the plot, Percy and Jason had to be a bit OOC so that they could easily go along with Leo's devious ways. I hope Will and Nico were to your liking, though!**

**And hoOPJO… please forgive me if this was not what you were hoping for. I just don't see Will as playful enough to want to steal Nico's towel just for fun. Besides, I liked it this way. It was fun to write. I hope, somewhere inside you, you liked this as well.**


End file.
